LED light options

atom ant · 05-31-2014, 04:54 PM

When shopping for LEDs I didn't realize M4 has a G4-18-5050-SIDE-WW

http://www.m4products.com/g4-18-5050...s-20w-halogen/

and an even brighter G4-18-5630-SIDE-WW

http://www.m4products.com/g4-18-5630...e-20w-halogen/

Anybody tried both? or the latter? I'm just wondering if the second one would be too bright.

lwg · 05-31-2014, 07:50 PM

Honestly, I tried a couple of different M4 LEDs and found their light output to be less than my eBay LEDs for 1/10 the price. Also their color scale appears to be off. Non even come close to the same color of my existing lights even though the color temperature is supposedly the same. The light output (Lumens) is supposedly higher with the M4 as well yet they don't put out nearly as much light.

Honestly just not a fan of them.

atom ant · 05-31-2014, 07:54 PM

Which ones did you get?

Titan Guy · 05-31-2014, 09:39 PM

I have been using the M4 - G4-12-5050 SIDE CW and find them fine for my needs. When I started replacing some LED's I found the CW to be brighter than what I was replacing. No numbers on old ones, so I am not sure what they were or where they came from. I now have all the LED's replaced so color/brightness is consistent.

spindrift · 06-01-2014, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atom ant

Which ones did you get?

I'd like to know as well.

Elliott & Vicky · 06-01-2014, 07:18 PM

Ive been replacing the halogen bulbs with the G4-18-5050-side-ww as the halogens die. Needless to say, they are all replaced now. I replaced the 20 W and 10 W bulbs with the equivalent LEDs. As they were replaced over a few months, I had both operating at the same time and didn't notice any difference. The also have back-up and tail light assemblies which are a perfect match for the Redwood.

I highly recommend them.

spindrift · 06-01-2014, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elliott-maine

Ive been replacing the halogen bulbs with the G4-18-5050-side-ww as the halogens die. Needless to say, they are all replaced now. I replaced the 20 W and 10 W bulbs with the equivalent LEDs. As they were replaced over a few months, I had both operating at the same time and didn't notice any difference. The also have back-up and tail light assemblies which are a perfect match for the Redwood.

I highly recommend them.

Are these the M4s?

sinder · 06-02-2014, 05:52 AM

Take a look at my post here: http://www.redwoodrvowners .com/redwo...=1380247378/30.

This is the other Redwood website. We found the 5050 M4 LEDs were real yellow. In fact when I contacted M4 they admitted they had changed the color hue. They recommended the Samsung as replacements for the halogens. They were more expensive, but found they are more close to the light we had with the halogens.

lwg · 06-03-2014, 10:59 PM

I finally got some time to dig into the exact lights I tried from M4 and the lights I've been using, and currently still use, from eBay.

First, the light below from M4 is what I bought to ideally replace my eBay lights that I'm running throughout the coach.
http://www.m4products.com/g4-18-5630...e-20w-halogen/

The above lights are "rated" at 600 Lumens and 3200 Color Kelvin.

Below is the link to the eBay lights I originally purchased and am still using. They are rated at only 310 Lumens and Color Temperature of 2900-3500K.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181150657436...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I can understand the eBay lights might have a different color than the M4 lights, the eBay lights much more closely match regular incandescent lights in my opinion. But the advertised light output of the M4 lights is nearly twice that of the eBay lights. It's painfully obvious they are not even close, the eBay lights are much brighter. I also tried several of the M4 lights before coming to this conclusion hoping it was a dud, same result. Unfortunately by opening them all I can't really return them. Need to consult M4 about this as they weren't cheap.

As for the other M4 lights I've tried. The ones below were my shot at brightening up the office.
http://www.m4products.com/cob04-cw-c...cob-led-plate/

Once again they are rated at 525-550 Lumens. This should be very bright. Well they aren't. My eBay lights from last year shown below and rated at about 432 Lumens (18LM per LED, 24 5050 LEDs per board) are still brighter than the M4 LEDs.

Not trying to pick on M4 as I do need to talk to them about this. Also keep in mind eBay marketing is not an exact science as these come direct from China (literally). But I tend to believe that if anything sellers on eBay are going to over-rate everything as that's the business environment they work in.

sinder · 06-03-2014, 11:45 PM

The Samsung made LED lights I ended up going with from M4 are bright, very close to original halogens. They also have fully enclosed electronics, where as the standard M4 LEDs are unprotected open circuit boards. As mentioned in my previous post the Samsung LEDs are more expensive at $9.99 each for the small socket size. There are probably other cheaper brands out there that provide amble light.

M4 will exchange your LEDs for others, but they really want you to keep them in the original packaging for the returns. My first set I had opened and installed all of the LEDs during the daytime. I recommend you only open 2 LEDs and test them for brightness and color. That way if they do not meet your standards, you can easily return them to M4. You will want to make sure the two different sizes have the same color hue. Are originals from M4 did not, which was completely unacceptable. BTW I also was able to get M4 to pick up the return postage, which they stated was not their standard policy.

coloradolivin · 06-04-2014, 12:50 AM

Maybe a stupid question, but is there a dimmer switch available for 12V ??
Thought it would be nice to be able to "dim" the lights for mood

atom ant · 06-04-2014, 01:04 AM

They make a nice dimmer switch that matches our existing switch products, and the LEDs are dimmable.

Thanks LWG. I'm not into dropping $350 smacks just yet, so I tried some Ebay G4-18-5050 from China at $48 for 20. If they don't work I'll go to plan B and start trying some M4.

coloradolivin · 06-04-2014, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atom ant

They make a nice dimmer switch that matches our existing switch products, and the LEDs are dimmable.

Thanks LWG. I'm not into dropping $350 smacks just yet, so I tried some Ebay G4-18-5050 from China at $48 for 20. If they don't work I'll go to plan B and start trying some M4.

Thanks Brad, they being ??

**piper guy** · 06-04-2014, 02:05 AM

Yeah Brad ~ so which ones are you trying and how about a link to the dimmer switch .......

You come up with so many neat new projects, Tracy is always complaining that I'm always doing something to the coach. At this rate I'll never run out of new things to put on it or in it.

lwg · 06-04-2014, 07:22 AM

Definitely more info on the dimmer switch. I'd like them in a few places in the rig. Many if not most LEDs now are dimmable.

spindrift · 06-04-2014, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atom ant

They make a nice dimmer switch that matches our existing switch products, and the LEDs are dimmable.

Thanks LWG. I'm not into dropping $350 smacks just yet, so I tried some Ebay G4-18-5050 from China at $48 for 20. If they don't work I'll go to plan B and start trying some M4.

I was under the impression that you would need to install a 12V driver that would be in-line/in between the 120V dimmer switch and the LED. Maybe that set-up is old school by now.

sinder · 06-05-2014, 03:18 AM

Here are a few dimmers on EBAY. http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_kw...Travel+Trailer

sinder · 06-05-2014, 03:27 AM

Fancy LED dimmer. http://www.ledlightscanada.com/Touch...p/llctckit.htm

sinder · 06-05-2014, 03:32 AM

Another LED dimmer store option. Note you must get a pulse modulation dimmer for LEDs.

atom ant · 06-05-2014, 06:35 PM

Yes, these on Ebay are the ones I'm familiar with that match the switches used in our coaches.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12v-Single-O...3bd68e&vxp=mtr

I personally have not tried them on LED, but I have on incandescent.

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